Billboard.com -- Fall Out Boy 'High' On New Sounds, Styles

Fall Out Boy 'High' On New Sounds, Styles

December 08, 2006, 3:30 PM EST
Gary Graff, Detroit
Fall Out Boy says its third album, "Infinity on High," will surprise its fans -- but hopefully in a good way. Guitarist Patrick Stump tells Billboard.com that the Chicago band's second major label album, the follow-up to 2005's double-platinum "From Under the Cork Tree," cuts a broader swath of styles and flavor than its predecessors."From song to song there's a completely different feel, but they all make sense in context," Stump explains. "They've got a few common points, but overall there's a lot of different voices and perspectives and styles. It would be dishonest for us to hold back any of these elements."Fall Out Boy is telegraphing those new directions with the album's first single, the funky "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," which was released on Nov. 21 and played live at the American Music Awards ceremony. "It's basically a hip-hop/R&B song, but written as a punk song," says Stump, who came up with the groove while he was doing some production work for Gym Class Heroes. Stump says he was particularly surprised by some "borderline classic rock" sounds the quartet came up with for the album, which is due Feb. 6 via Island. There's also greater use of piano, he says, as well as strings and horns, though he claims that "we were really restrained about it. At the end of the day the core of the songs is just four guys -- drums, bass and two guitars -- playing. They're just rock songs.""Infinity on High," which takes its title from a letter Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother, also features guest appearances by Jay-Z, who introduces one track, and guitar solos on another by Panic! At the Disco's Ryan Ross and New Found Glory's Chad Gilbert. As previously reported, the group is previewing new material during radio station-sponsored holiday shows this month and a short club tour in January.